posted at 9:21 am on June 1, 2012 by Ed Morrissey

I know that Barack Obama wants Bill Clinton to act as a campaign surrogate, but perhaps he should consider hiring him as his campaign manager instead. President #42 gave some good advice and a little bit of political wisdom last night in suggesting that the Obama campaign stop talking about Mitt Romney’s “sterling business career” and, er, move on to what Team Obama’s agenda for a second term might be:

So I don’t think that we ought to get in the position where we say this is bad work, this is good work. I think, however, the real issue ought to be what has Governor Romney advocated in the campaign that he will do as president? What has President Obama done and what does he propose to do? How do these things stack up against each other, that’s the most relevant thing. There’s no question that in terms of getting up and going to the office, and you know, basically performing the essential functions of the office, a man who has been governor and had a sterling business career crosses the qualification threshold.

The “sterling business career” remark will sting Team O, but it’s an accurate reflection of what most voters will believe, especially in this economy. Why would Team O want to get into a debate over qualifications for the office is a mystery in and of itself, one which apparently has Clinton stumped, too. Not only are the attacks alienating allies on Wall Street that Obama desperately needs with Romney in the race, the constant Bain references reminds people of Romney’s deep background on economics, and leaves an opening for attacks on Obama’s public-equity record.

So why does Team O insist on continuing those attacks? Clinton more or less says why when he asks, “What has President Obama done and what does he propose to do? ” So far, Obama hasn’t laid out a second-term agenda at all; in fact, he and his team still haven’t even figured out a theme, even after more than a year of campaigning. Obama has to distract voters from the fact that he’s offered no vision at all.

Addendum: Does this sound like a man who would want his wife to hitch her wagon to Obama’s star and join the ticket as a running mate? Er … not really.

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